My Tearful Tribute To Gremmy The Cat

[maggot]

I met my Wife in 2000. At the time, she wasn't my Wife, but quickly became the love of my life. After 7 years, I guess we finally decided, that we could live with one another, successfully enough, put up with each other's "vision",  and drive each other a little more crazy (in a good way, though) and still function, so we decided to make it official and tie the knot.  We loaded up our our Best Man Dan and his Family, Lynn's parents, and our girls, KT & KC, and headed to Alabama to get married in Geneva,  at the River Junction under the Constitution Oak, where the two rivers (the Pea and the Choctawhatchee), meet and become one. My Mother Norma Jean, and my Brother Jeffrey attended the ceremony. Like a Lou Reed song, it was, a perfect day.

Growing up, my  Mom would always jokingly "bribe" me with the promise, for example, ' get me a glass of tea son, and I'll dance at your wedding'. Unfortunately due to her poor health, she wasn't able to dance at our wedding, but her eyes did. She loved (loves) Lynn, possibly even more than she did (does) me (joking ... maybe ...) . 

May 2008 rolled around and my Mother passed away, some three months or so before our first wedding anniversary. I was a man who felt utterly alone and lost. The economy was in free fall and my grief was laden. One one the few calls I did get in that period was for a leak at some 100 year old house in Lake Hamilton.  It was owned by a charming middle aged couple who were history buffs and raised and bred, both cats and dogs. The husband had recently suffered a stroke, leaving him physically impaired and her with more work than she could handle. She told me she had to find homes for all the cats and dogs and asked would I be interested in one. I told her I'd discuss it with Lynn and I did. We decided we'd like to have a kitten. We were in luck, there had been a recent litter of part Himalayan, part Persian kittens. The lady sent us an email with four pictures. Three were predominantly black cats with white markings, except the runt, who was white with darker markings.  We both knew as soon as we saw his picture, that he was the feline for us. After the appropriate weening period (I don't remember the exact date, but it would have been shortly after my Birthday 7/19, speaking of Birthdays, I made the realization that they don't mean as much after the woman who gave birth to you is no longer there to celebrate them with you ) , I returned to Lake Hamilton the collect the young lion, who would become our weird little sweet crazy mischievous Gremmy The Cat. 

The kittens weren't the only things growing  between visits, as I arrived to find a house full of little barking dogs. Although unsure about the vehicle ride to his new abode, , the little cat seemed somewhat relieved when we vacated the noisy house and traded it for the quietness of our home. At first he seemed tepid in his new environment and I when I was home stayed glued to me, even sleeping under my side of the bed at night. For the longest time we never heard him meow, and was beginning to wonder  if he ever would. Our doubts were quelled one night, when he started meowing, howling and singing. and from then on, he was a very expressive and vocal cat. At the time, even though I didn't know it and probably hadn't even really heard the term, but Gremmy was becoming my emotional support Cat. When Lynn was at work, the kids at school, there was Gremmy and me , alone together. He saw me through some of the worst times in my life, including alcohol addiction. He saw me at my absolute lowest point, and he was there to see me come out the other side of it, and start my journey to become a better man. We celebrated his 11th Birthday on June 20. Less than a month later (July 19) we celebrated mine. I also buried him that day. I'm devastated. Today has been a week since my Birthday. It's my Mom's Birthday. When Lynn and Krypto the Superdog (yeah we got a Dog about 5 years ago, took Gremmy about 3 years to forgive us enough to socialize again ) aren't here, I am a man who feels utterly alone and lost.

I miss my Mom. I miss my Gremmy.

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